Mukhya Mantri Madhu Vikas Yojana

What is Mukhya Mantri Madhu Vikas Yojana?

Mukhya Mantri Madhu Vikas Yojana is a state-funded beekeeping scheme of the Department of Horticulture, Government of Himachal Pradesh. The scheme, often written locally as Mukhyamantri Madhu Vikas Yojna or simply Madhu Vikas Yojana, was announced to push farmers in Himachal Pradesh into beekeeping and honey production as a serious income activity rather than a backyard hobby.

Himachal Pradesh has a natural advantage here. The state's apple, plum, cherry, pear and mustard belts need pollination every spring, and its forests carry strong bee flora. According to the Department of Horticulture's eUdyan portal, beekeeping development is one of the department's standing programmes, and Madhu Vikas Yojana sits on top of it as a state scheme with its own budget line and higher rates of assistance.

What the scheme is trying to do

• Raise the number of bee colonies held by farmer beekeepers across the state.
• Create district-level bee-breeders so that colonies and queen bees are available locally instead of being trucked in from other states.
• Bring honey extraction and packing equipment within reach of small beekeepers.
• Train new beekeepers and pay them a stipend while they train.
• Improve pollination in Himachal Pradesh's fruit orchards, which raises fruit set and yield for orchardists who are not beekeepers at all.

What benefits does Madhu Vikas Yojana give?

Mukhya Mantri Madhu Vikas Yojana works through a set of separate components. A beekeeper does not get one lump sum, but claims assistance component by component against actual purchase.

Bee colonies. Assistance covers 80 per cent of the cost, subject to a maximum of Rs 1,600 per bee colony, for a beekeeper raising a unit of 50 bee colonies. At the full ceiling that is up to about Rs 80,000 for one 50-colony unit.

Bee-breeding units. A bee-breeder maintaining 300 bee colonies is supported with Rs 3 lakh, with one breeder planned in each district of Himachal Pradesh. This component exists because sourcing healthy colonies has been the hardest part of scaling beekeeping in the state.

Honey extractor and containers. Beekeepers get 50 per cent subsidy on a honey extractor and food grade container set, with the cost norm taken as Rs 7,000 per set. Food grade containers matter for both hygiene and price, since loose honey in reused drums fetches far less.

Migration and transport. Beekeepers who move colonies between the plains and the hills through the season are given 50 per cent assistance on transportation cost per year.

Honey processing unit. Assistance up to full cost is available for setting up a honey processing unit, which is aimed at groups, societies and larger operators rather than a single beekeeper with a few boxes.

Bee flora plantation. Support is provided for raising bee flora over about two bighas, so colonies have a nectar source close to the apiary.

Training and exposure. A five-day training camp is held each year for a batch of 25 novice beekeepers, with Rs 400 per beekeeper per day. Selected beekeepers are also sent on exposure visits of up to 15 days to reputed beekeeping institutions, with about Rs 7,000 per beekeeper.

Who is eligible for Mukhya Mantri Madhu Vikas Yojana?

You can apply if:

• You are a bonafide Himachali farmer. The Horticulture Department restricts its state subsidy schemes to bonafide residents of Himachal Pradesh.
• You own or have documented rights over land in Himachal Pradesh where the apiary will be located, supported by a jamabandi and tatima.
• You are taking up beekeeping yourself, whether as a new beekeeper starting a 50-colony unit or an existing beekeeper expanding.
• You hold a bank account in your own name for the back-ended subsidy transfer.
• You belong to any category. The department has said assistance goes to farmers of all sections, with women and physically challenged farmers given priority.

You cannot apply if:

• You are not a bonafide Himachali. Growers from outside the state who migrate colonies into Himachal Pradesh seasonally are not eligible for the state subsidy.
• You have already drawn assistance for the same component and the same asset in a recent year. Departmental schemes do not fund the same item twice within the prescribed cooling period.
• You want reimbursement for colonies or equipment already bought before your application was sanctioned. Assistance is back-ended but must follow a sanction, not precede it.
• You are an institution or trader buying honey for resale rather than a farmer keeping bees. The scheme is a producer scheme.
• Your land papers are not in your own name and you have no written consent or lease recorded for the apiary site.

Selection in any year is also limited by the budget released for the scheme. Being eligible does not guarantee a sanction if the district allocation is already exhausted.

How to apply for Mukhya Mantri Madhu Vikas Yojana

The Department of Horticulture routes its state subsidy schemes, including Madhu Vikas Yojana, through the eUdyan portal, formally the Integrated Horticulture Sector Management System.

1. Register on eUdyan. Open eudyan.hp.gov.in and create a farmer account by filling in the requisite details. You will be given a login ID and password which you should keep, since the same login is used for every horticulture scheme.
2. Open the Madhu Vikas Yojana application. Log in, go to the subsidy scheme list and select Mukhya Mantri Madhu Vikas Yojana from the state sponsored schemes.
3. Fill in the four blocks of the form. The form asks for personal details, applicant address, land or orchard details, and scheme and project details, followed by bank details. Enter the number of colonies, hives and equipment you propose and the estimated cost.
4. Upload the checklist documents. Attach the Aadhaar card, jamabandi, tatima, bank passbook, project report and self-certificate. Scans must be readable, since blurred revenue papers are a common reason for a case being sent back.
5. Submit and note the application number. After final submission the department scrutinises the application. Save or print the acknowledgement.
6. Get the site inspected. The Horticulture Development Officer or Horticulture Extension Officer of your development block visits the proposed apiary site and records a report.
7. Wait for the sanction or work order. Only after the Subject Matter Specialist and the Deputy Director of Horticulture of your district approve the case should you buy the colonies or equipment.
8. Buy, then claim. Complete the purchase, keep the original bills, and file the subsidy claim with your Horticulture Development Officer. Assistance is released into the bank account you registered.

Offline route. Farmers who cannot use the portal can submit a written application with the same documents to the Horticulture Development Officer of their development block or to the Deputy Director of Horticulture of the district, who will get it entered into the system.

How do I check my application status?

Log in to eudyan.hp.gov.in with the same ID you used to apply and open the application status or track application option. The portal shows the stage the case has reached, from submission to field verification to sanction. The department has also published step-by-step videos on the portal covering application and status tracking.

If the portal shows no movement for several weeks, contact the Horticulture Development Officer of your development block first, and then the office of the Deputy Director of Horticulture in your district headquarters. These two offices hold the physical file.

Why do applications get rejected?

• Land papers do not match. A jamabandi in a father's or brother's name without a written consent or lease is the single most common problem.
• Missing tatima. The field sketch is on the checklist and applications without it are returned.
• Bank account not in the applicant's name or not active. Back-ended subsidy fails at transfer stage if the account details do not match.
• Purchase made before sanction. Buying colonies first and applying later usually means the claim cannot be admitted.
• Budget exhausted for the year. The department reserves the right to restrict or defer proposals subject to availability of funds, so an otherwise clean case may be carried forward to the next financial year.
• Duplicate claim. Assistance already taken for the same component under another horticulture programme, such as the beekeeping component of MIDH, blocks a fresh claim.

What are the key dates?

Mukhya Mantri Madhu Vikas Yojana has no fixed last date announced. In practice it runs on the financial year that ends on 31 March, and sanctions are issued against the budget released for that year. Applying in the first half of the financial year gives a better chance of a sanction than applying in February or March, when district allocations are usually spent.

Beekeeping itself has its own calendar. Colony multiplication and migration decisions in Himachal Pradesh are tied to the spring flow in the apple and stone-fruit belts and the later flows in the plains, so plan the purchase of colonies in time for the season you intend to use them.

Where do I complain if something goes wrong?

Start with the Horticulture Development Officer of your development block, who is the first point of contact for every eUdyan case. If the matter is not settled, take it to the Subject Matter Specialist (Horticulture) and then the Deputy Director of Horticulture at the district headquarters.

The Directorate of Horticulture, Himachal Pradesh is located at Navbahar, Chotta Shimla, Shimla 171002 and can be reached on 0177-2842390 or by email at horticul-hp@nic.in. For portal problems such as a failed upload or a login that will not work, use the helpdesk contact listed on eudyan.hp.gov.in. Grievances that remain unresolved can be filed through the Himachal Pradesh government's public grievance system.

Keep copies of your application number, the sanction or work order, the purchase bills and the inspection report. Nearly every dispute over back-ended subsidy under this scheme is settled by producing those four papers.